Half Cent - Braided Hair (1840-1857)

Specifications, Details and General Information

Background and History

No half cent coins were minted between 1811 in 1825 because
there was no commercial demand for them. The mint used existing stockpiles to
fill commercial orders. Production of
Classic Head half cents began again in 1825 but gradually trailed off until
1835 with a small peak of 398,000 coins.It was common practice in the mid-1800s for the United States to give
visiting dignitaries
proof sets of our most current coins. Mint Director Robert Paterson tasked
engraver Christian Gobrecht to create
dies
especially for this purpose. Although
commercial demand for the half cent was relatively nonexistent, a new design for
the half cent was created in 1840 and dies were prepared.Most production centered on minting
proof specimens however, small quantities of
business strike coins were produced starting in 1849 and continuing through
1857. In the 1850s, coin collecting began to become a popular hobby in the
United States. Some unscrupulous mint employees retrieved the old dies and began
to "restrike"
proof half cents for collectors. When Mint Director James Ross Snowden
discovered this practice, he confiscated all the dies and locked them in the
mint's vaults. The half cent denomination was officially retired in 1857.

Production Years, Mints and Types

The Braided Hair half cent was minted as indicated in the following table. The table
lists the years, strike type, mint facility where made, the mint mark used on
the coin and a description of any type differences in coins minted for that
year. Many coins were restruck in later years using the original obverse dies
and reverse dies that were not original. This enables the collector to discern
which specimens are re-strikes and which are original.

Errors and Varieties

The following are popular
errors and
varieties that Braided Hair
half cent collectors look
for. These coins usually carry a premium and are valued above a common coin.

Year

Mint

Mint Mark

Error/Variety

Notes/Description

None.
Any future discoveries will be posted here.

Mintage Figures

The following table lists the numbers of coins produced (if known) for the Braided Hair
half cent
taking into consideration the strike type in minting facility. Where possible, production numbers by
strike
type are noted.